She Ran, She Remembered
by rosebeckman
Summary: A Doctor Who fan-fic I've entered for a contest on another site. If you like it at all - I'd love it if you could follow this link: figment(.)com/books/610325 and give the story a heart. Allons-y?


"Ms. Noble?"

No response.

"Ms. Noble?"

Silence but for the steady whirring hum of the outdated electric fan, and the low rumble of a zeppelin passing overhead.

"Donna," the nurse tried a third time, resting a hand on the shoulder of the woman staring blankly ahead. Her ginger hair hung lank and tangled, framing her worn face with a mouth resting slackly open, empty eyes gazing off into an impenetrable distance.

"Ms. Noble," the nurse shook Donna's shoulder slightly, "please Ms. Noble I need you to take your meds." The slight shaking motion seemed to stir some life into the woman, prompting her to turn her head inquiringly towards the nurse - yet her eyes remained as empty as ever.

"Can you hold out your hand for me?" She dumped the two pills she'd been carrying into Donna's outstretched palm, who glanced at them with disinterest before letting them slide off her skin onto the table.

"No, Ms. Noble - I need you to swallow them. Here, I've brought you some water if you want." Donna looked down at the table, rolling one of the pills around with her fingertip.

"Please Ms. Noble - you need to take the pills, alright?" The nurse said, still managing to retain her light, cheery tone. But this wasn't her first time - she was well-versed in the ways of patience. God knows you needed it working in a place like an asylum. She picked up the pills and placed them in Donna's palm, putting the glass of water on the table. With practiced, apathetic motions, the pills went down, chased swiftly by the water. Her now empty hand sunk limply back to the table.

"Thank you Ms. Noble," the nurse smiled and moved to attend the rest of the patients.

"He's coming for me."

The nurse paused, turning back to face Donna - whose old and tired voice indicated just how little it was used.

"Who is, Donna?"

"The man in the blue box - the Doctor."

And the nurse smiled her easy, sympathetic smile and nodded. "Yes Donna, of course he is," and walked away.

At the front desk, a buzzer sounded to admit the woman waiting outside. Her blonde hair was pinned back away from her face, her hands resting comfortably in the pockets of an old, well-used brown trench coat - but her face was marked by a look of worry, unease. She walked up to the orderly at the counter, letting a friendly smile pass briefly across her features.

"Afternoon," she said, "I'm here to see Donna Noble." The orderly nodded, pulling out a clipboard and pen, indicating for her to sign in. She scribbled a name on the pad before moving into the room occupied by most of the residents.

"Thank you Ms. Tyler," the orderly called after her as she disappeared into the next room.

Even without seeing her face, it didn't take Rose more than a moment to pick out Donna from the crowd - her bright ginger hair was unmistakable. As Rose moved closer though, she couldn't help but notice how the color had faded, was now shot through with streaks of gray - couldn't help but notice how it seemed to be like a fire, dwindling away into ashes - a spark dwindling towards nonexistence.

"Hello Donna," Rose said, taking the next seat, worried eyes quickly taking in every aspect of Donna's appearance. "How are you?"

Where once Donna would have fired back with a quip loaded with spirit and sarcasm, now there was only silence - barely the slightest of physical movements to indicate she'd even heard Rose at all.

"Do you remember me Donna? We met once - years ago." Rose picked up Donna's hand with one of her own, tracing the palm lines with her own fingertips - finding herself unable to look into Donna's blank, glassy eyes.

"We met when we ran with the Doctor."

"The Doctor," Donna repeated softly, "the Doctor's coming . . . coming." Her voice trailed off.

"You still remember him, don't you?" Rose's own voice was soft, delicate, "and that's why you're here - because you remembered." Keeping her words level and calm took almost more self-control than Rose thought she was capable. "He thought you would die if it came back - thought the memories would burn you up inside - because you were the sacrifice to save the universe. The Doctor-Donna - the most important woman in the whole of creation."

A tear slid down Rose's cheek, falling onto Donna's hand that she still held with her own.

"But you didn't die - at least not physically - not like Wilf, or your mum. I remember when he heard about Wilf - I don't know if I've ever seen him so heartbroken, well, apart from when I told him about you. I know he wanted to come to Wilf's funeral, but at the time he couldn't risk letting you see him - fearing that the memories would be brought back." Rose paused and looked down, "not that it matters now."

Donna blinked a few times, her head lowering, her chin resting lightly on her chest.

"Donna I'm so sorry," Rose whispered, tears continuing to roll steadily down her cheeks, "sorry that you ended up broken. Sometimes I wonder if he should have taken you along with him at all - if he should have left you behind." She brushed a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "would that have been better? Knowing this is how it ended, would you have wanted that? To be left behind?"

"The Doctor, Doctor's coming, Doctor - Doctor who," Donna mumbled to herself.

"I'll visit again soon," Rose said, standing and sliding her hands back into the pockets of her trench coat, "I promise." And without permitting herself to look back, she walked steadily out of the room, out of the hospital, into a world humming with the sound of zeppelins overhead, a world where her father was still alive, a world where she lived with her Doctor - a world where the spirit of Donna Noble had died, leaving little more than a shell of herself behind.

Her steps took her first to a small flower shop, where she paused briefly to buy a small bouquet of tulips - red of course - then to a cemetery close by.

He was already waiting at the grave, in his familiar blue suit and converse, brown hair sticking up haphazardly, as always. She walked up behind him, placing the tulips at the foot of the grave before sliding her arms around him.

"You'd think time would make it easier." He said quietly, "hell, you'd think after everything, I'd be used to death - but not with her."

"I know," Rose leaned her head against him, unable to amend her lie, her eyes taking in the familiar epitaph on the slowly aging gravestone.

DONNA NOBLE  
She ran  
She remembered  
And everywhere, they will sing her song


End file.
